Law Firm of the Year - Transactions

Addleshaw Goddard

Addleshaw Goddard's PE practice stands out this year for consistency in a challenging market and continued European growth. 

The judging period saw AG advising 25 UK investors on 78 deals. Whilst volumes fell slightly on the prior year, our average transaction values remained stable as we continue to advise on a significant number of higher value transactions. 

We further expanded our international capability with the opening of an office in Madrid when the entire office of KWM (formerly SJ Berwin) joined us. This is a team founded on private equity and which enjoys a market leading position in both fund formation and PE investment work. This follows closely on recent openings in Dublin, Luxembourg, Paris, Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin, and further demonstrates our commitment to PE and our ambitious growth agenda.

CMS 

Notwithstanding a continuingly volatile macro-economic climate, the CMS PE team has been able to capitalise on an extremely successful 2023 (in which the CMS PE team was nominated for this award and won “The Lawyer – Private Equity Team of the Year” award). 

The team has advised on over 100 deals with an aggregate value in excess of £13,000,000,000 with our expertise in leveraged buyouts, exits, management advisory and all other PE legal advisory services proving invaluable to clients. The team continues to work extensively with the likes of Horizon Capital, August Equity, Providence Equity Partners, Limerston Capital, L&G Capital, CBPE, Three Hills Capital and with TDR Capital and Bay Tree Private Equity being new client wins this year. This is on top of expanding its practice into the upper mid-market, particularly in the management advisory space, with mandates on high value transactions such as the sale of Superstruct Entertainment to KKR by Providence Equity Partners. Exits dominated the deal landscape during the previous 12 months and CMS advised on a number of high profile transactions, most notable of which was the firm’s role acting for August Equity and management on the sale of Agilio Software to Five Arrows and TA Associates.

Eversheds Sutherland

Between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024, Eversheds Sutherland’s private equity team achieved remarkable success, expanding its international reach and strengthening its ability to serve UK and international houses on complex deals. With over 100 dedicated private equity lawyers, the firm has fostered long-term relationships, becoming trusted advisers to numerous clients. This period saw record growth across all markets, driven by strategic hires such as Gautier Elies from Mayer Brown in Paris and Steffen Schniepp from PWC in Frankfurt.

The team excelled in high-value transactions like the sales/refinancings of Anthesis by Carlyle and Palatine, and Optegra by MidEuropa and H2, managing complex multi-jurisdictional issues. Their innovative use of bespoke AI tools like Dealmaster streamlined legal processes, enhancing efficiency in large transactions. Eversheds Sutherland's commitment to client service, combined with its adaptability to dynamic market conditions, has reinforced its reputation as a leader in the private equity field.

Goodwin

Goodwin’s Private Equity practice operates at the intersection of capital and innovation. We advise clients throughout their full lifecycle—from fund formation to investments, exits and restructurings—and are one of London’s few teams with experienced specialists covering both the upper and mid-market. Our practice has earned a reputation for buyouts, growth-equity and growth-company representations across high-growth, innovative industries. 

Goodwin’s broad platform serves the world’s most prestigious sponsors with a collaborative bench of private equity specialists, strong European and US debt finance expertise, and one of Europe’s largest fund formation practices. We also have complementary practices fully integrated into our transactional offering including tax, restructuring, and regulatory and competition, providing us a strategic advantage over competitors. 

Our London team is 100+ lawyers, including our Private Equity M&A group: one of the City’s largest PE transactional partner teams. This growth has helped us win a string of private equity mandates for a client roster including TA Associates, Warburg Pincus, TowerBrook, Mayfair Equity Partners, Accel-KKR, Kreos Capital, H.I.G. Capital, ECI, Graphite, Bregal and G Square.

The strength of our bench and the profile of our transactions has made Goodwin the UK and Europe’s go-to firm for complex private equity work.

Squire Patton Boggs

In a fourth consecutive year of growth, Squire Patton Boggs is consolidating its position as a leading firm for specialist, full-service legal advice for the private equity industry in UK and Europe. Working as a single, integrated team, we have seen growth in numerous metrics: increase in turnover, increase in deal size, added new clients – driven by the growing reputation, dynamic collaboration and business development of our lawyers, by successful, high-level recruitment, and by enhanced capabilities (including our specialist co-counsel offering; and extensive regulatory, FDI, tax and other legal expertise in multiple jurisdictions).

Continued expansion has seen our new Dublin office (launched May 2023) move to larger offices (February 2024) and award-shortlisted for its PE work, and the launch of an Amsterdam office led by PE partner Jeroen Sombezki (March 2024). Following promotions to PE partner of Mae Salem (Leeds) and Matt Canipa (Manchester) and 23 lateral hires in the past three years, 2023-24 also saw appointments in Frankfurt of PE partner Norman Wasse from McDermott Will & Emery (September 2023), and in London of PE director Calum Thom from McDermott Will & Emery (June 2024) and international funds and PE tax partner David Nisbet from Osborne Clarke (May 2024).

Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Our London PE team, comprising five partners and fourteen associates, represents UK, European and US sponsors and their portfolio companies in a host of transactions. Our global team has advised on 1,000+ private equity deals since 2021, with our London team being integral to this success. In 2023 we worked on numerous £1 billion+ transactions led by the London team. In a strong year for our public M&A practice, we also led on three large UK “take private” deals. In London we have long-standing relationships with over 10 leading PE firms. The London team also develops innovative products and provides strategic advice to help clients navigate both challenging and attractive economic environments. This includes advising on investments in growing companies, providing access to hybrid capital solutions, and more recently assisting on continuation vehicles. In terms of wider London office growth, of which our PE practice has contributed to, a 2024 Legal Business report ranked Willkie #3 among the fastest-growing “pace-setters” and #1 among the top international firms that gained the most Legal 500 practice area rankings in the London market over the last five years.

Voting Closed

To find out who won, book a table at the Mergermarket British Private Equity Awards on 01 October 2024, by contacting Chris Coe.